A 56-year-old experienced hiker became lost on his way off of Mt. Baldy in Southern California.
Larry Amkraut spent the night on Mt. Baldy on Christmas Eve and planned to attend a family get together on Christmas Day. When he didn’t return, family members reported him missing.
Friends told authorities that he was an experienced hiker and he had the proper gear and clothing to survive at least another night. But since it was Christmas and the forecast predicted temperatures in the teens, rescuers wanted to find him quick.
West Valley Search and Rescue found Amkraut in a gully near Falls Road, one of the two main trails frequently used to summit the mountain. He was brought to a fire station for a quick check-up and released.
But that wasn’t the end of the ordeal. When two friends found out Amkraut was missing, they went up the mountain themselves to conduct their own search mission. When there whereabouts were unknown, rescuers trekked back up the mountain to look for them.
Those two idiots got back to the trailhead while rescue teams were searching for them on the mountain.
Read the story here.
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Now that’s one helluva traffic jam! Are they coming from or going to Mt. Baldy?
Actually, the people who first found Larry was cousins Steve Johnson and James Johnson. They just happened to go a different route than search and rescue and heard Larry calling to them from the ditch he was in. They went down to give him food and water. Then James went to find search and rescue while Steve helped Larry out of the ditch. Then, search and rescue arrived and brought them to the main station.